Coal-screening tower.



G. E. TITGOMB.

COAL SCREENING TQWER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1911.

1,056,472. Pa ented Mauls, 1913.

5 SHBETSSHEET 1.

I 63 Mag: 62 a 4 COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.,wAsH|NaToN. n. c.

G. E. TITGOMB. GOAL SCREENING TOWER.

W APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1 9. 1,056,472.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH (IO-,WASHINGTON, D. c.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

G. E..TI TGOMB. COAL SCREENING TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1911.

1,056,472, Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

5 sums-sum a.

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH c0, WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. E. TITCOMB. GOAL SCREENING TOWER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1911.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH c0.. WASHINGTON, D. c.

G. E. TITCOMB.

- GOAL SCREENING TOWER. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1911.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

2 MM? Q1 561 COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH 120., WASHINGTON. 01c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE E. TITCOMB, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

COAL-SCREENING- TOWER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE E. TITooMB, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coal-Screening Towers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and I exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved coal screening tower and a novel relative arrangement of these towers in respect to each other, and to such ends, the invention consists, generally stated, of the novel devices and combinations of devices hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

Because of the keen competition between the large coal companies, and especially those operating in the northwest, it has been found important to properly prepare the bituminous coal shipped from the docks to the various points where the coal is finally sold to the retail trade. It is the custom to ship soft coal, in the vicinity of the various mines in the Pittsburgh and surrounding district, as lump or run of mine. This coal is loaded into vessels, usually at Lake Erie ports, by dumping machinery, and is unloaded from the vessel and stored on docks at Duluth, Milwaukee, and other ports. The lump coal is there screened by running the same over screening plates having openings, usually about 2 inches square.- The coal passing through the screening is separated again into stove or nut and slack,

by passing the same over screening plates having smaller openings. It is customary to employ bridge tramways for unloading and storing the coal at the docks. When these bridge tramways are used the screening machinery is usually located on the bridge tramway itself or on a separate movable structure called a screening tower. The advantage of separate screening towers over the first noted arrangement may be briefly stated as follows: The construction of the tramway bridge is simplified and the framework and trucks thereof are relieved of the great weight of the screening machinery; when the bridge is being used to unload and store coal, the screening tower can be served by inexpensive locomotive cranes, or otherwise; and wh re Several bridges are use Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 29, 1911.

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

Serial No. 630,107.

independently movable screening towers provide a much more flexible, serviceable, and economical equipment.

My invention provides, in the first place, a novel screening tower which is provided with a delivery conveyer carried by a supporting frame that is arranged to swing in a horizontal plane, so that the said conveyer may be used, at will, either to deliver coal to a storage pile or to an adjacent screen tower. In the second place, my invention provides a delivery conveyer which has a number of different possible discharge points, so that the distance between adjacent cooperating towers may be regulated to suit the spacing of the cars. In the third place, my invention provides a novel arrangement of the several screening towers themselves.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate the invention, like characters indicate like parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view in elevation showing several of the improved screening towers in cooperative relation in respect to each other and in respect to the bridge tramway, the latter being indicated only in part; Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic elevation showing the bridge tramway looking at the same in the same direction which it is viewed in Fig. 1, and showing the first screening tower with its delivery conveyer turned straight away from the observer; F ig. 3 is a plan view of one of the improved screening towers; Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the support for the delivery conveyer looking at the same in a direction from the left toward the right in respect to Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the screening towers and showing also a box car and car loading device adjacent thereto; and Fig. 6 is an elevation of the screening tower looking at the same in a direction from the right toward the left in respect to Figs. 3 and 5.

Of the parts of the bridge tramway, the numeral 1 indicates one of the traveling towers, the truck wheels 2, of which, are arranged to run on rails 3; the numeral 4 indicates a tramway bridge, and the numerals 5 and 6, indicate, respectively, the grab bucket and its supporting car, which latter is arranged to travel in the usual way on suitable rails secured to the bridge 4:. All of the said parts, 1 to 6 inclusive, are, or

may be assumed to be of standard and well known construction.

arranged to run on rails 9. These rails 9 are usually arranged parallel with the rails 3 on which the bridge tramway travels. Each screening tower has a large receiving hopper 10 into which coal from storage is delivered, preferably by the self-filling grab bucket 5 of the tramway bridge. To illustrate the capacity, it may be stated that the bucket 5 is usually a five ton bucket, and the hopper 10 has a holding capacity of about fifty tons, so that it affords a reservoir for the accumulation of considerable coal. The coal is fed from the hopper at a uniform rate, preferably by a reciprocating feeder l1, and a shaking screen 12 is suitably mounted on the tower frame 7 in a-well known way. The feeder 11, of the reciprocating type is preferably employed because, when a gate is used the fine coal runs too freely to the screen, the lumps being held back until they are finally released, and then the screen is usually flooded. The vibratory screen is preferably used because it has been found that this type of screen will best separate the different grades of coal, the back and forth motion thereof, serving to turn the lumps and dislodge the fine coal that may be carried by the lumps. The coal which passes over the screen is delivered, in some instances, by a chute 18 supported by the framework 7, to a box car loader 14 of well known eonstruction,by which it may be distributed to an adjacent box car 15, (see Fig. The coal which passes through the screen falls into a hopper 16 supported by the tower frame 7 and from thence, it is carried-upward to the top of the tower, by an elevator 17, and is there delivered to a pivoted or horizontal oscillatory conveyer, presently to be more fully described, and from which oscillatory conveyer the sifted coal may be delivered, either to the storage area under the bridge tramway, or it may be conveyed and delivered into the receiving hopper 10 of an adjacent screening tower.

The frame for supporting the oscillatory delivery conveyor is preferably a horizontally disposed truss or cantaliver structure 18 which, at one end, is pivotally attached to the upper portion of the framework 7, as shown, by a pintle 19 and a turn-table structure 20. This oscillatory frame 18 has a receiving hopper 21 located directly over its pintle 19 and arranged to receive the coal directly from a spout 22 at the upper end of the elevator 17. The delivery conveyer, itself, which is carried by the oscillatory frame 18, preferably comprises a long trough 23 and a sprocket chain 24, the latter having scraper blades or sprockets 25 that work in said trough 23. The chain 24- runs over suitable driving and guiding sprockets on the framework 18 and through a chain of gears, is preferably driven from an electric motor 26 carried by the said oscillatory frame 18 (see particularly Figs. 3 and 6). In its bottom, the trough 23 is provided at different points with coal discharging passages 27 which are adapted to be opened and closed, at will, by suitable gates 28 or other suitable means. By opening the desired discharge passage or port 27, the discharge of the coal from the trough 23, at any one of the several desired points, may be accomplished. This variable point of discharge is particularly important when several of the screening towers are arranged for successive screening action and permitting the several screening towers to be properly spaced for delivery to one or more cars on tracks which may be a greater or less distance apart.

Assuming that three towers are, located adjacent to each other and are conjointly used, the first will receive coal from the pile and load lump coal into the cars, the second will receive coal from the first screening tower and load nut coal or stove coal into the cars, and the third will receive coal from the second tower and load slack into cars. Or, the stove or nut coal can be loaded into cars by the third tower, and the slack delivered to the storage area. The towers, as already indicated, being movable in respect to each other and in no way connected together, as many can be used as necessary to get the proper or desired separation of the coal.

The operation of the shaking screen should be intermittent because it should be stopped to remove the box car loader and replace the loaded car with an empty car. Hence, the hopper over the screen is of such large capacity that the bucket on the bridge may deliver the coal uniformly or constantly to the tower. The hopper under the shaking screen should also be of such capacity that the elevator which delivers thereto may work constantly.

The reciprocating feeder, the elevator and the shaking screen may either be driven by a separate electric or other motors or they may be driven from a common motor and the proper means, such as clutches, provided for rendering the same independently operative, at will.

The frame 18 may be oscillated to the proper line of delivery and then, by opening the proper port 27, the coal may be discharged from the trough 23 at any desired point.

What I claim is:

1. Several adjacent screening towers, each tower having an independent delivery con veyer arranged for oscillatory movements in horizontal plane, whereby screenings 01' other grade of coal may, at will, be delivered longitudinally of the direction of travel, subfrom one tower to the other or to a storage stantially as and for the purposes set forth. 10

pile. In testimony whereof I aflix my signature 2. Several independently movable screenin presence of two witnesses.

ing towers provided with delivery convey- GEORGE E. TITCOMB.

ers mounted for horizontal oscillatory move- VVitn'esses:

ments and provided with a multiplicity of WINFIELD S. H. KNoPF,

possible discharge ports or openings spaced FRANK A. ILGEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

